Faith and the Good Thing: Analysis of Major Characters
"Faith and the Good Thing: Analysis of Major Characters" explores the journey of Faith Cross, a young Black woman who transitions from the superstitions of rural Georgia to the harsh realities of urban Chicago in her quest for the elusive "Good Thing." The narrative begins with Faith's innocence and naivety, which are soon shattered by traumatic experiences that lead her into a life of addiction and despair as she faces betrayal and disillusionment in her relationships. Central to her story are significant figures like her husband Isaac Maxwell, who views her as a possession rather than a partner, and Alpha Omega Holmes, a gentle artist whose reappearance complicates her life. Key to the narrative is the Swamp Woman, a mystical figure who embodies wisdom and serves as a guide for Faith, ultimately revealing profound truths about existence. The novel also features various secondary characters, including Arnold Tyler Tippis, who introduces Faith to prostitution, and Dr. Richard M. Barrett, who represents failed philosophical ideals. Through these characters, the story delves into themes of identity, agency, and the search for meaning in a materialistic society. Ultimately, Faith's tragic arc culminates in her transformation and return to her roots, leading her to a painful yet enlightening understanding of the "Good Thing."
Faith and the Good Thing: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Charles Johnson
First published: 1974
Genre: Novel
Locale: Rural Georgia and Chicago, Illinois
Plot: Philosophical
Time: The 1930's or 1940's
Faith Cross, a beautiful young black woman in search of the “Good Thing” who undergoes a spiritual odyssey from the superstitions of backwoods Georgia to the harsh realities of urban Chicago. Initially sweet and naïve, she is rapidly stripped of the illusions nurtured in her by the sheltered environment of her youth. Soon after her arrival in the city, she is robbed and raped, and she progressively hardens in her life to become an alcoholic and a drug-addicted prostitute. Successively rejecting the religion of her youth and several philosophical theories to which she is introduced by her male acquaintances, she tries to find the Good Thing in a materialistic marriage to an ambitious newspaper writer, only to be disappointed once again. The deteriorating marriage finally dissolves after Faith becomes pregnant by another man. Faith is once again alone in resigned despair. Shortly after giving birth to a baby girl, Faith is fatally burned. At her death, she returns to her childhood home and is transformed into a witch who finally realizes the truth of the Good Thing.
The Swamp Woman, a one-eyed, grotesquely misshapen witch who tells Faith that she must go to Chicago and to whom Faith returns at the novel's end. She lives in a shack filled with books and objects associated with necromancy, including a magic urn in which Faith sees her fate. The Swamp Woman tells Faith the story of the legendary Kujichagulia, who pursued and finally discovered the Good Thing only to be killed by the gods for his forbidden knowledge; his wife, Imani, follows him in his quest but is instead pitied by the gods and initiated into the mysteries of essential truth. The Swamp Woman reveals herself to be Imani, still questioning, still exploring, but able to lead Faith to knowledge of the Good Thing. At the end of the novel, the Swamp Woman unzips her skin and steps out of it to put on Faith's former body.
Isaac Maxwell, Faith's husband. An ambitious journalist who believes that money constitutes the Good Thing, Isaac is an odd-looking yet vain man who wears a toupee. Yellow-skinned, with a weak chin, he suffers from severe asthma. He views Faith as one of the possessions that can guarantee him the good life, at one point even bartering his wife's body for a promotion. He is devastated when, after a year of marriage, he learns of her sordid past, and he moves out of their bedroom; when she informs him of her pregnancy, he demands that she move out of the house. Self-absorbed, he has all along loved not Faith but only an image of her that is an extension of himself. Isaac visits the burned Faith in her hospital room right before she dies, but she orders him out. Significantly and characteristically, he leaves a twenty-dollar bill on her bed.
Alpha Omega Holmes, Faith's high school suitor, who reappears as a former convict in Chicago. He is tall, muscular, gentle, and unambitious, and he reminds Faith of her father. Without Faith's knowledge, her mother had driven him away, and she was bewildered at his abandonment. Isaac chooses Alpha for a newspaper project and brings him home to dinner, unaware of his former relationship with Faith. Alpha has become an artist; as he tells Faith, only the act of painting makes him feel free. They resume their affair, even though she recognizes his irresponsibility, exemplified by his lying to her in the same tall-tale style as her father. After she reveals her pregnancy to him, she is not surprised when he abandons her once again.
Arnold Tyler Tippis, the first person Faith meets in Chicago. After buying her a drink, he sexually assaults her but pays her twenty dollars, thus initiating her into prostitution. A college graduate and former dentist who has been through psychoanalysis, he continues to visit Faith, primarily to talk. She later encounters him working as a theater usher and finally as a male nurse who shows kindness to her in her last moments.
Dr. Richard M. Barrett, a former philosophy professor. He is a small, dumpy, dirty man, with red eyes. He robs Faith on her arrival in Chicago but later seeks her out to apologize and return her possessions. He shares with her his Doomsday Book, which supposedly contains his understanding of truth, but at his death she finds the pages to be blank. He haunts her periodically after his death.
Lavidia Cross, Faith's mother. She is strong-willed and superstitious. Her dying injunction to Faith to find the “Good Thing” initiates the plot.